Why do words sound the way they do?

[CajunCenturion]

Study: Word sounds contain clues for language learners

Interesting.

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[N1GHTEYES]

New Scientist did a related article recently.

See:

http://www.newscientist.com/article...ouba-in-search-of-languages-missing-link.html

Tony

 

[mscallisto]

Well of course there's always onomatopoeia, the naming of a thing or action by a vocal imitation of the sound associated with it (as buzz, hiss or sizzle)

A comprehensive list of onomatopoeic words lives here:

http://www.examples-of-onomatopoeia.com/

Take it from a real onomatomaniac, it's a fun link!!

Sam

 

[JCreamerII]

Not to get off topic, but Mel Brooks did a bit on this same issue, maybe 30 years ago.

Jim C.

 

[N1GHTEYES]

Not to mention Python: Caribou being a very "woody" word etc.

Tony

 

[assets]

What about spoonerisms

The well know one the dear old queen - the quear old dean

Never give up never give in.

There are no short cuts to anything worth doing

 

[mscallisto]

Yes The Reverend William Archibald Spooner

I've always liked:

A well oiled bicycle
A well boiled icicle

Sam

 

[Noway2]

I read about this club that specializes in learning new languages. Apparently what they do is get together and speak in small conversational groups while those desiring to learn the language sit and listen. They claim that after listening for a while you will naturally being to understand and then begin to be able to speak the language, asserting that this is how you learn language as an infant.

They also claim that their experience has been that it works best when one is exposed to about 7 different languages, finding that this causes you to focus on the similarities rather than the differences in them.

I came across them in the book I was reading at the time, which was on Fourier Analysis. Apparently they studied and learned Fourier techniques to prove that there were frequency and symmetry similarities shared in all languages, even those that sounds very different.

 

[drlex]

I like "A well boiled icicle" for being an oxymoron as well as a Spoonerism.
On the subject of Spoonerisms, my favourite outburst was "[y]ou have hissed all my mystery lessons, and in fact tasted the whole worm. I must insist that you leave by the next town drain!"

soi là, soi carré

 

[BadBigBen]

Norway,

that is how I became proficient, to the point of calling English my 2nd Mother-Tongue...

basically said, up until I was about 12 yrs. old, I only spoke and wrote in German with a bit of what was taught in German schools... we moved to the US and within half-year to one year, my spoken English was up to par with the rest of the teens in my school (written is a whole different ball game... ;-)), just by watching TV, the only people speaking German at the time was my Mom and some friends of hers.

and to boot, in El Paso, you'd hear more Espanol (Spanish) than English at school... so I picked up a bit of that language as well...

right now, I am trying to learn a bit of Japanese... and with that in mind: Sayonara...





Ben
"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."
How to ask a question, when posting them to a professional forum.
Only ask questions with yes/no answers if you want "yes" or "no"

 

[Noway2]

I have always wanted the opportunity to learn a new language this way. I think that the classic approach taken in schools, with a focus on grammar and construction is at best terribly inefficient and at worst, doesn't work. For that matter, when you speak in conversation, do you logically parse out how to construct your sentence? No. So where do the educators get the idea that this will work for a secondary language?

I would even say that it is best to learn to speak the language before focusing on reading and writing, which are just ways to graphically represent the language.

 

[CajunCenturion]

A number of parishes in South Louisiana have been using French Immersion for over twenty years. Here in Lafayette Parish, it began in 1992.
It works.



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Good Luck
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[1DMF]

Why do words sound the way they do?

Because of the way we pronounce them and this is most certainly affected by accent!


"In complete darkness we are all the same, only our knowledge and wisdom separates us, don't let your eyes deceive you."

"If a shortcut was meant to be easy, it wouldn't be a shortcut, it would be the way!"

MIME::Lite TLS Email Encryption - Perl v0.02 beta

 

[Stella740pl]

I have a problem with methods of learning the language by immersion only, without supporting it with a good dose of well structured grammar lessons. I don't think this method is appropriate for many, many grown ups - at least, it wouldn't work for technically/mathematically-minded people like me and my husband. I also have visual memory better that hearing memory, and really need some visual aids for better learning and understanding. Speaking and listening just not enough.

When I hear claims that 'immersion works' and 'approach ... with a focus on grammar and construction is at best terribly inefficient and at worst, doesn't work', I say, it depends on what results you planned to achieve from the start. If only spoken language is the goal, then it works, all right – and even then not for every mind type.

Yes, children learn languages by year for the first few years of their lives - but they only learn how to speak without an accent and how to express their thoughts. That's true, they don't parse sentences when they speak - but that's how those adorable mishearings and misconceptions happen. Then they spend a dozen years in school learning how to parse and construct sentences correctly, which (hopefully) clears the misconceptions and explains mishearings.

I've seen adult people that learned a language by ear. If they started young enough and have good hearing (possibly, a musical ear), they sometimes can speak fairly well – but they have no idea how to put it all in writing. They are the people who write “could of” and “should of”, have no idea what is the difference between “there”, “their”, and “they’re”, or that “no” and “know” are two different words (or “here” and “hear”, “bare” and “bear”, “kept” and “capped” for that matter). I’ve even seen people who can speak reasonably well, but cannot recognize many familiar words in writing.

TV helped me a great deal when I was learning English – but for the first few years in USA, I kept the captions on. I felt I could turn them off when I started to spot errors, misspellings, and misused words in the captions, and when I started to understand humor. But a lot of credit for my English goes to my several months of classes – especially a six-month class concentrating mostly on grammar, and a comprehensive and concise at the same time text book. As for the accent, I will always have it, no matter how much I would listen to people speaking correctly.

BadBigBen, don’t tell me you learned English only from TV. Being 12 years old, you definitely went to school, where you had to read, write, and study at least some grammar. I should know, my daughter came to USA being younger than you when you did.

 

[BadBigBen]

Stella,

you definitely went to school, where you had to read, write, and study at least some grammar

sure, never said I did not... but when I speak English, I sound like most Americans, not with that thick German accent that most German speakers have when they JUST learn through classes... two years of Am. school (grade 7 and 8) was more than enough for me to catch up and even surpass most of my fellow students... (Grad 9, I was back in German school, then Grades 10 through 12 back in Am. school)...

I've had Merkins and Brits ask me where I was from in the US, once I told them I was German they did not believe me until I showed them my passport or they heard me speak German...

the most driving thing about learning a new language, I would think, would be the circumstances and the environment that one learns that language... becoming more proficient, if he/she would have hardly anyone to speak to in their mother-tongue, basically being forced to listen/speak in the new language... over here in Germany, I see and hear, that when young non native speakers, who have family and live in areas where their ethnic background is predominant, that they tend to NOT speak the language clearly, even after years (10 or more)...

being technical and mathematically inclined, I found that that does not hinder, but actually helped me, finding the structures in the language, easier to understand... I must say though, that having a German background, it is easier to learn English, than it would be for a Russian native speaker...

Ben
"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."
How to ask a question, when posting them to a professional forum.
Only ask questions with yes/no answers if you want "yes" or "no"

 

[Stella740pl]

but when I speak English, I sound like most Americans, not with that thick German accent that most German speakers have when they JUST learn through classes...

Well, duh. Obviously. Most children who came here aged 10 and under (with some exceptions like you, up to maybe 12) lose the accent. In fact, many of them even gain an accent and lose fluency speaking their first language. Most children aged 11 (OK, 13-14 in rare cases) will never ever lose an accent, even though some do significantly soften their accent up to an age of about 18 (OK, 22 occasionally). I see many kids who came here young or born here to immigrant parents from different backgrounds. It happens so often when parents address their children in their native language (many want the kids to not forget it), and the children reply in English - no accent whatsoever.

That's the point. In your case, it's not classes vs. immersion. That's children vs. adults. That's how children learn. Not so for most adults. They really need some other methods, aiming at learning the language - speech, reading, writing, grammar - the whole package, not accentuating on losing an accent. Most never will.